the areas of Kuala Bahang, Kuala Bara, Kuala Pila and Merpah. The king from Gombroon According to At-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri Kedah, written by Muhammad Hassan bin Dato' Kerani Muhammad Arshad in 1928, in about 630 CE, Maharaja Derbar Raja of Gombroon (now known as Bandar Abbas) in Persia was defeated in battle and escaped to Sri Lanka, and was later blown off course by a storm to the remote shores of Kuala Sungai Qilah, Kedah. The inhabitants of Kedah found him to be a valiant and intelligent person and made him the king of Kedah. In 634 CE, a new kingdom was formed in Kedah consisting of Persian royalty and native Malay people of Hindu faith; the capital was Langkasuka. Conversion to Islam Based on the account given in Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (also known as the Kedah Annals), the Sultanate of Kedah was formed when King Phra Ong Mahawangsa converted to Islam and adopted the name Sultan Mudzafar Shah. At-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri Kedah described the conversion to Islamic faith as starting in 1136 AD. However, historian Richard Winstedt, quoting an Acehnese account, gave a date of 1474 for the year of conversion to Islam by the ruler of Kedah. This later date accords with an account in the Malay Annals, which describes a raja of Kedah visiting Malacca during the reign of its last sultan seeking the honour of the royal band that marks the sovereignty of a Malay Muslim ruler. The request by Kedah was in response to be Malacca's vassal, probably due to fears of Ayutthayan aggresion. British colonisation of Penang and Seberang Perai The first British vessel arrived in Kedah in 1592. In 1770, Francis Light was instructed by the British East India Company (BEIC) to take Penang from Kedah. He achieved this by assuring Sultan Muhammad Jiwa Zainal Adilin II that his army would protect Kedah from any Siamese invasion. In return, the sultan agreed to hand over Penang to the British. In 1786, Light negotiated with the new sultan of Kedah, Abdullah Mukarram Shah, over the cession of Penang to the BEIC. However, Light made the agreement without the consent of his superiors in India. The BEIC did not provide military support, as promised by Light, when Siam attacked Kedah. The sultan demanded that Light return Penang, but Light was reluctant to hand it back. He offered compensation for the damage but was refused by